1. Field of the Invention
The system and method of use of this invention reside in the area of hair removal prior to skin treatment and more particularly relate in one embodiment to an accessory device attachable to a hand piece producing a beam that generates heat, such accessory device providing a strip of material extending from a dispensing roll, under the beam between the hand piece and the patient's skin, to a take-up reel, such material causing the beam to burn only hair, such burnt hair adhering to the material which can then be rolled up on the take-up reel.
2. History of the Prior Art
Laser skin surgery for a variety of skin-related problems including, but not limited to, the removal of unwanted moles, warts, superficial basal cell carcinomas, wrinkles, tattoo removal and other cosmetic and medical laser surgery treatments must often be preceded by the removal of hair on or around the site of the laser treatment. This hair removal process prior to laser treatment can be accomplished by shaving or by the use of depilatory creams, both of which processes are messy and time-consuming. Hair removal can also be accomplished using flash lamp treatments wherein an electrical flash lamp is discharged close to the skin which procedure burns the hair off by the heat emitted from the electrical flash lamp. The burnt hair debris can then be removed by a vacuum cleaner system, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,187,001 to Azar et al. Such system, though, requires an additional complex and costly electronic apparatus.